Obstetrical appliance.



W. H. EBLEN.

OBSTETRIOAL APPLIANCE.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 6, 1911. 1 ,031,841 g Patented July 9, 1912.

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WILLIAM H. EBLEN, F WINDROCK, TENNESSEE.

OBSTETBIGAL APPLIANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2 1912.

Application filed September 6, 1911. Serial No. 647,998.

, pliances, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawing.

My improvement relates to apparatus intended to aid the patient duringaccouchement.

The apparatus comprises foot-rests and knee-rests and hand holds for theuse of the patient in exerting muscular strain.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of an apparatusembodying my improvement; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the sameapparatus; Fig. 3is asection on the line 3-3, of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is asection on the line, L-t, of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a section on the line,55, of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a section on the line, 66, of Fig. 2; Fig. 7 isa section on the line, 7-7, of Fig. 1; Fig. 8 is a section on the line,S8, of Fig. 1.

Referring to said drawings, A, A, are base bars forming two oppositesides of a quadrilateral horizontal frame. B, is a footrest barextending from the rear end of one of the base bars through the rear endof the other base bar and forming the rear side of said quadrilateralframe. G, is a front connecting bar joining the front ends of the bars,A, and forming the front side of said quadrilateral frame.

From the rear end of each base bar, A, rises an oblique member, D, theupper end of which is joined to a similar front oblique member, E,rising from the front end of the adjacent base bar. From the meetingupper ends of one pair of oblique memhere, D and E, a. knee-rest bar, F,extends to the upper meeting ends of the other pair of oblique members,D and E. Thus said knee-rest bar is supported above and forward of thefoot-rest bar, according to the height and inclination of said obliquemembers. To each of the oblique members, E, is secured a hand hold, G,as will be hereinafter described. The foot-rest bar and the knee-restbar are preferably made rotatable,

in order that the foot-rests and the kneerests borne, respectively, bysaid bars may automatically tilt in response to the pressure of the footand the knee in order to make the most extended engagement between saidrests and the feet and knees. Provision is also made for adjusting theheight of the knee-rest bar and its distance I forward of the foot-restbar; and portions of the apparatus are made detachable or foldable, orboth, in order that the apparatus may be put into compact form when notin use. And the foot-rests are made adjustable lengthwise upon thefoot-rest bar; and the knee-rests are similarly made adjustable on theknee-rest bar and removable there? from, as will be hereinafterdescribed.

In the form shown in. the drawings, the

foot-rest bar is four-sided in cross sect-ion and has at its middle acarriage-brace joint, B At each end said bar has a round neck, B with ahead, B Said neck rests in ahook, A formed on the end of the base bar,A, said hook opening upward and toward the opposite end of said bar.Said hook forms a bearing for the neck, B The footrest bar may beremoved from said hooks when the openings of the latter areunobstructed. But when said apparatus is set up for use, a sleeve, Dsurrounding and slidable upon each base bar, A, rests across the openingof the adjacent hook, as shown in the lower left hand portion of Fig. 2.Thus the necks or journals, B of the bar, B, are temporarily confined inthe bearings formed by said hooks. Each such sleeve 18 secured to itsbar, A, by means of a thumb set screw D B are the foot-rests. These maybe of any convenient size adapted for engagement by the feet of thepatient. On the bottom of each such rest is a sleeve, upon thefour-sided bar, B. A set screw, B, extends through said sleeve and bearsupon said bar for binding the foot-rest firmly upon said bar. hen saidscrew is loose, the foot-rest may be shifted along the length of saidbar and, if desired, removed from the latter, the heads, B being nolarger than the interior of said sleeve.

Each oblique member, D, is composed of B fitting slidably 7 a bar orrod, D and a tube, D into which clamp compresses the upper end of saidtube sufliciently to cause the binding of said tube upon the bar, D soas to prevent movement of said bar in said tube. At its lower end, eachoblique member, D, is hinged to the sleeve, D by a hinge, D having anaxis parallel to the bar, B.

1 The front connecting bar, C, has in its middle a carriage-brace joint,C and at each end said bar is connected to the adjacent base'bar, A, bymeans of a hinge, G having an upright axis.

The front end of each of the base bars, A, is surrounded by a sleeve, Eslidable on said bar. A set screw, E extends through one side of eachsuch sleeve for binding the latter to its bar, A.

Each oblique member, E, is composed of a bar or rod, E and tube, Einto-which said rod extends slidably. The upper end of said tube has aslot, E and a strap clamp, E, extends around the upper end of the tube,and a thumb screw, E extends transversely through the ends of saidclamp. By tightening said screw, said clamp is made to bind upon saidtube sufficiently to compress the latter for binding upon said bar toprevent movement of the latter in the tube. The lower end of eachmember, E, is joined to the sleeve, E by a hinge, E which is horizontaland parallel to the bar, 0. The upper ends of the oblique member, D, andE, are secured to each other by a knuckle joint the upper end of one ofsaid members being slotted vertically to receive the upright flattenedend of the other of said members. In the drawings the member, D, isslotted. At the point of such over-lapping, each member, D, hashorizontal bearings, D while the members, E, have similar bearings, E inline with the bearings, D. At each end, the knee-rest bar, F, has ajournal, F extending through the bearings, D and E To hold said journalsin said bearings, a latch, F is hinged to each end of said bar at, F inproper posit-ion to adapt it to lie flatwise upon said bar and the upperends of the members, D and E, and have a head, F extend downward overthe outer face of the adjacent member, D. At its middle, the knee-restbar has a carriage-brace joint, F F F are knee rests supported by theknee-rest bar, each knee-rest having a sleeve, F ,slidable upon saidbar, and a set-screw, F extending through said sleeve to bear againstsaid bar and bind said sleeve immovably to said bar. After looseningsaid set-screw, said knee-rest may be moved along the length of saidbar.

On each bar or rod, E is a strap ring, G; and on each such ring is astrap, G leading to and connected with a hand hold, G Said straps may beof any desired length. Said ring has an eye, G through which the rod orbar, E extends. The ring may be loose on said bar so that the ring mayslide downward and rest upon the clamp, E.

As already pointed out, the foot-rests, B are adjustable along thelength of the bar, B; and it is to be noted that said bar may turn onthe journals, B to allow the footrests to rock to conform to the sole ofthe foot of the patient. It has also been indicated that the knee-restsare adjustable along the length of the bar, F, and it is to be observedthat the journals, F allow said bar to rock or turn sufliciently topermit the knee-rests to adapt themselves to the surface of the knee ofthe patient bearing against them.

The distance between the foot-rests and the knee-rests is varied byloosening the clamps, D and moving the rods, D up or down and then againtightening said clamps. During such movement, the oblique members, E,turn on their hinges, E If it is desired to change the inclination ofthe plane cutting the foot-rests and the kneerests, the members, E, areshortened or lengthened by releasing the clamps, E and moving the rods,E up or down in the tubes, E thus moving the knee-rests in an arc havingits axis near the foot-rest bar.

In operation, the patient has six points of engagement with theapparatus or appliance. The legs being partially folded, the feet restupon the foot-rests, 13*, the knees bear rearward against theknee-rests, F and the hands grip the hand holds, G And those six pointsare used as points of resistance and the exertion of muscular strain.Strain applied tothe hand holds is resisted by the feet and the knees;and conversely, the strain applied to the foot-rests between the feetand the knee-rests by the knees is resisted by the hands.

For folding and packing the apparatus for storage or convenient carryingwhen not in use, the latches, F are raised and the oblique members, Dand E, sprung sufficiently to free the journals, F from the bearings, Dand E thus freeing the said bar from the structure. Then said bar may befolded on its joint, F whereby said bar is reduced to one half itsformer length. The removal of said bar releases the upper ends of theoblique members, D and E, from each other. The bars, D and E may bemoved downward in their respective tubes and said members foldeddownward against the adjacent bars, A, A. The bars, D and E may be takenout of their tubes, if so desired. By moving the clamps, D forward, thejournals, 13 may be moved out of the hook bearings, A And the foot-restsmay be removed from said bar, B, and said bar then folded upon thejoint, B necting bar, 0, may then be folded upon the joint, G wherebythe two sections of said bar are folded against the adjacent base Theconbars, A, upon the hinges, C whereby the base bars, A, A, arebroughtclose to each other. The straps, G being flexible, they and thehand holds may be folded closely to the other parts. If so desired, thestrap rings, straps, and hand holds, may be detached by drawing therods, E out of the eyes, G of the rings.

The several parts should be made of strong metal and should be designedfor the combination of minimum weight and maximum strength. Regardingdimensions, it may be noted that in an apparatus which I haveconstructed and used, the toot-rest bar and the front connect-ing barare twenty-one inches long while the base bars are sixteen inches long,the oblique members, I) and E, being set relatively approximately asshown in Fig. 2.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an apparatus of the nature described, the combination oftoot-rests, kneerests, and hand holds, and relatively rigid supports forthe toot-rests and the kneerests, substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus of the nature described, the combination oftoot-rests, kneerests, and hand holds, the toot-rests and the knee-restsbeing rigidly supported and the knee-rests being adjustable relative tothe toot-rests, substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus of the nature described, the combination offoot-rests, kneerests, and hand holds, the toot-rests and the knee-restsbeing rigidly supported and the knee-rests being adjustable withreference to each other and to the foot-rests, substantially asdescribed.

4. In an apparatus of the nature described, the combination offoot-rests, kneerests, and hand holds, the foot-rests and the knee-restsbeing rigidly supported and the toot-rests being adjustable toward andfrom each other, substantially as described.

In an apparatus of the nature described, the eombination 0t toot-rests,kneerests, and hand holds, the toot-rests and the knee-rests beingrigidly supported and the toot-rests being adjustable toward and fromeach other and the knee-rests being adjustable toward and from eachother, substan tially as described.

rest support, foot-rests on said support, a rigid knee-rest supportadjustable relative to said foot-rest support, knee-rests seated on theknee-rest support adjustable toward and "from each other, and handholds, substantially as described.

9. In an apparatus of the nature described, the combination of a rockingtootrest support, foot-rests seated on said support adjustable towardand from each other, a rigid knee-rest support adjustable relative tosaid toot-rest support, knee-rests on the knee-rest support, and handholds, substantially as described.

10. In an apparatus of the nature described, the combination of arocking tootrest support, foot-rests seated on said sup port adjustabletoward and from each other, a rigid knee-rest support, knee-rests seatedon said support adjustable toward and from each other, and hand holds,substantially as described.

11. In an apparatus of the nature described, the combination of arocking footrest support, toot-rests seated on said sup port, a rigidrocking knee-rest support, knee-rests on said support, and hand holds,substantially as described.

12. In an apparatus of the nature de scribed, the combination oftoot-rests, kneerests, and hand holds, and relatively fixed supports forthe foot-rests and the kneerests, the support for the knee-rests beingadjustable in an are having its axis adjacent the foot-rest support,substantially as described.

13. In an apparatus of the nature described, the combination of afoot-rest sup port, toot-rests on said support, oblique members meetingat their upper ends, a knee-rest support supported by said obliquemembers, knee-rests on said knee-rest support, and hand holds,substantially as de scribed.

1 1-. In an apparatus of the nature described, the combination of afoot-rest support, toot-rests on said support, oblique members meetingat their upper ends, a retatable knee-rest support supported by saidoblique members, knee-rests on said kneerest support, and hand holds,substantially as described.

15. In an apparatus of the nature de scribed, the combination of arotatable footrest support, toot-rests on said support, a knee-rest bar,knee-rests on said bar, relatively fiXed supports for said bar, and handholds, substantially as described.

16. In an apparatus of the nature described, the combination of a framecomprising front, rear, and end members and oblique members rising fromthe end members and meeting at their upper ends, and a knee-rest memberextending from the meeting ends of one pair of the oblique members tothe meeting ends of the other oblique members, kneerests on saidkneerest member, foot-rests supported by said rear frame member, andhand holds secured to said frame, substantially as described.

17. In an apparatus of the nature described, the combination of a framecomprising front, rear, and end members and adjustable oblique membersrising from the end members and meeting at their upper ends, and aknee-rest member extending from the meeting ends of one pair ofadjustable oblique members to the meeting ends of the other obliquemembers, kneerests on said knee-rest member, foot-rests supported bysaid rear frame member, and hand holds secured to said frame,substantially as described.

18. In an apparatus of the nature clescribed, the combination of basebars having bearings at their rear ends, a foot-rest bar journaledremovably in said bearings, foot-rests on said bar, a knee-rest bar,means for detachablysupporting said bar above said base bars, knee-restson said knee-rest bar, and hand holds, substantially as described.

20. In an apparatus of the nature described, the combination of framingcomprising two base bars having hooks constituting bearings, a foot-restbar resting in said hooks, an adjustable sleeve surrounding each basebar adjacent the hook of said bar for retaining said foot-rest bar insaid bearings, foot-rests on said foot-rest bar, knee rests, and handholds, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name, in presence of twowitnesses, this 29th day of August, in the year one thousand ninehundred and eleven.

WILLIAM H. EBLEN. Witnesses W. G. Soonns, D. F. DIENNA.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

